Motorist On Drugs Pleads Guilty In Bicyclist Death

February 2, 2011 / 9:30 AM
/ AP

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A drug-addled Southern California motorist who struck and killed a bicyclist, then dragged the bike under her car for a mile while fleeing could spend up to three years in prison.

Orange County prosecutors say 38-year-old Patricia Ann Izquieta, of Riverside, pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony hit and run with permanent death or injury, felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and misdemeanor driving without a valid license.

She is expected to get three years in prison when she's sentenced March 11.

Investigators say Izquieta was behind the wheel of a Saturn SUV and was under the influence of several prescription drugs when she struck bicyclist Donald Murphy in Newport Beach in 2009.

Murphy was thrown from his bicycle and Izquieta took off, dragging the bike more than a mile.